Member

JAPAN is on the top of my list of places to visit. I never really thought of their stuff being spot on correct but more of a romanticized version of the original but cool none the less. I do like how they are doing things as well as the europeans. I think Japan has the lowrider and custom culture locked and the europeans have the early Hot Rod days down to a T. I wanna go!!!!!

I will say that one of my favorite parts of building a car which also happens to be the hardest is getting the details right. I love doing research on small things that make the car such as radiator hoses, fuel line clamps, and the welds on headers. So many cars have an interpreted idea of what they were like and don't really want to do it exactly how it was done because so many of those cars were not perfect. So welds get smoothed out and everything gets metal finished etc and they often lose the feel and spirit of what they were doing so long ago. One thing's for sure, those wacky Japanese have the spirit alive and well over there.

ALLIANCE MEMBER

Thanks to the power of the HAMB, I just sold a 1937 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Four Door to HAMBer Shingo Deguchi of Arts Body Shop in Japan. The car left Detroit a couple of weeks ago for Long Beach, California and should be boarding a boat for Japan any day now. Shingo plans on showing the car at the Yokohama show next month. Right now, the car is all stock but I am sure they have some exciting plans for it. It would be great to be able to see the old car at the show....

Attached Files:

Member

I dealt with the Japanese folks with vintage clothing for twenty wonderful years. The nicest, most gracious community I have ever been associated with. I had a couple of customers with hot rods, it is very hard to do there with limited space for all things. I still am in touch with many ex-customers and enjoy the relationship, great pride in their reputation. ~Sololobo~

BANNED

Member

I'm pretty sure rat Fink is as recognizable as Mickey Mouse in Japan. I go at least once a year and have a deep respect for the level of passion and dedication they have for hot rods, custom cars and bikes. (And really anything authentic or handmade.)

Member

Nothing is at street level in Tokyo!
Everything cool is hidden in back alleys, basements or 3 floors up!

I spent many Tokyo afternoons teaming up with expats from all over the world, just wandering around aimlessly, hunting for the path less travelled, just to stumble on little gems like you have pictured here!

If you ever go to Tokyo......have the guts to ignore the tourist crap.....and head down the back alleys!!!!

Member

"Dedicated passion for 30s- 60s American style, deep respect for our specific (HAMB) car culture, and an intricate study of every minute detail in the American clothing, vehicles, and history of the rebel, the biker, the greaser, and customizer."

Having lived in Japan for nearly four years in the mid 9o's, I totally agree. "America Mura" (America Village) in Osaka was/is a whole three or four city blocks in Minami filled with vintage USA "Kustom/Pop Kulture". This includes back alleys, basements and 3 floors up, as Mark says.
I was interested in the origins of this obsession and after a bit of reserch found that most agree it started during the occupation after the war. Japanese culture has a deep respect for the victorious and strong. Having been beaten by, then occupied by US Servicemen and introduced to their blue jean, Jazz/R'n'R, Coca-Cola "culture", seems the young embraced these as desirable winner's traits. They have been symbols of Japanese youth cool and rebellion ever since.

ALLIANCE MEMBER

I miss those aspects of living in Japan. It's not an easy place to live due to the difficulty of the language and the very high cost of everything, but once you get used to it, it's definitely a cool place to live. Would love to be able to afford (in both time and money) to go back once a year for a week or so.

Member

I have some issues of Burnout Magazine which are written in Japanese. They cover their style of cars, shows and the whole culture to go with it. I have some issues that cover Mooneyes Japan and they rule! The artwork in the magazine is top notch. I dig their dedication to the American past time and old cars. Sweden has a pretty cool scene going on too.

Member

The Japonese culture embraces so many nice customs.(not just cars!) Like, courtesy. Its amazing to me how doggone polite they are. especially for how tightly packed a country it is. We could all learn from that.

Member

I think it is really cool how the Japanese have embraced hot rodding. They truly are enthusiastic. Mooneyes would have been bulldozed to the ground by some stupid bank had it not been for the Japanese. What they did with the Burbank Choppers was absolutely amazing as well. Those cats are all right in my book!

Member

Japan has been doing American better than America for a while now. It's cool but at the same time kind of sad. The whole selvage denim revival that Japan started is pretty crazy. The Japanese have a knack for identifying intrinsic value in discarded design culture, in many cases improving on it and then selling it globally.